Any new acquisitions Fairfax makes in the future would be limited to “very strong companies, with good track record,'' Fairfax chairman and chief executive Prem Watsa said in conference call.

He said Fairfax’s number one priority is to keep its financial condition really, really strong, adding that it won't do anything at the expense of the financial condition,.

Although remaining very profitable, Fairfax has made a number of major investments in struggling Canadian companies that have fared poorly during the recent economic downturn.

Among the missteps, which Watsa acknowledged at the Fairfax annual meeting in April, was its investment in shares of Canwest Global Communications, which has put much of its operations under creditor protection and delisted its shares.

Although there has been speculation that Fairfax might be interested in Canwest's newspapers, which aren't under creditor protection, the subject was never raised in the morning conference call with analysts on Friday.